Curry house boss says he's been the victim of a 'witch hunt' after bogus Facebook claim he employed a convicted rapist

Alf Miah, owner of the Venus Lounge in Heywood, says the claims are completely false

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A curry house boss says he's the victim of a social media ‘witch-hunt’ after false claims he was employing a convicted rapist were made online.

Alf Miah and his two business partners, who run Venus Lounge in Heywood , have been subjected to vile abuse and a window at the restaurant has been smashed since the ‘dangerous’ and ‘completely false’ accusations were made on Facebook.

Police say they are aware of the bogus claims and say they're monitoring the situation.

It comes after numerous pictures taken in the restaurant were posted on local Facebook groups.

The images have been mocked up to resemble stills from a TV news channel and include claims that a man who was convicted of rape in 2012 worked at and owned the York Street business.

Mr Miah says the images show a man who attended an event at his restaurant in January 2016 with some other guests, but was unknown to him or his business partners and has never been employed by the restaurant.

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He added: “I’m really angry. This is Heywood. To make these kind of claims here with all the trouble with the grooming gang is dangerous.

“We have had one our windows smashed. There have been talks of protests outside. We have spoken to police because we are concerned about what might happen.

“We have worked really hard to get this business up and running and build a good reputation and this risks all that.

“We have not really seen a response from customers yet, our regulars know it is not true, but if it goes on any longer there is a chance it could damage our reputation and our business.

“It’s having a big effect on me. I’ve not been sleeping well. I’m very angry, but there is very little we can do. If we were to get our solicitors to sue for libel that could cost thousands and that would risk the business going under.”